Description and control of railway traffic flow under a moving block system

A moving block system (MBS) will contribute meaningfully to the railway. The advanced system can allow trains to operate closely as a platoon and significantly reduce train headway. Any minor speed disturbance of a train may lead to a chain of changes in operating status for some following trains in a platoon. However, any minor speed disturbance of a train may lead to a domino effect of changes in operating status for subsequent trains. This highlights the need for a thorough understanding of rail traffic flow behaviors under the MBS. Unfortunately, few studies have focused on this area. This study develops a micro-simulation model to describe train movements under MBS, and study in detail two typical railway operation scenarios: steep descending grade and arrival. On this basis, congestion phenomenon and bottleneck effect were explained in combination with the macroscopic rail fundamental diagram (RFD).